West Ham's transfer negotiator Mario Husillos won't be having any face to face contact with the representatives of Sebastien Haller as the director of football has touched down in China.

The club is hoping to progress further in discussions with the representatives of Haller with a view to putting in a £35m bid but Husillos won't be at the forefront of it as he has joined manager Manuel Pellegrini and the squad in the Far East for the Premier League Asia Trophy with the tour getting underway today (Sunday).

That will likely mean the Hammers will have an intermediary helping them out in talks, believed to be super agent Kia Joorabchian, while co-chairman David Sullivan has remained in the UK. The director of football will still have an involvement in proceedings, however.

Husillos was key to getting the £25m deal to sign midfielder Pablo Fornals last month over the line and he too was instrumental in the Hammers trying to sign Maxi Gomez, a move that would eventually fail.

Read More

Husillos and manager Manuel Pellegrini were shocked at missing out on Gomez having chased his signature since January.

The Argentine is seen as a crucial cog in West Ham's transfer strategy this summer but that has yielded only the signing of Fornals while Marko Arnautovic, Lucas Perez and Edimilson Fernandes have all been sold.

Mario Husillos has been confirmed as the club's new director of football (Image: Malaga CF)

On Haller, the Hammers made their move on Wednesday for the 15-goal striker having finally given up the chase for Gomez after a lengthy pursuit.

Reports that the club has already tabled a £35m bid for the Eintracht Frankfurt front,an are wide of the mark, football.london understands but the striker is the priority target having missed out on Gomez.